Thaindian News

March 23, 2010 (Pen Men at Work): Aruba divers began searching for any signs of a sunken skeleton possibly photographed by a snorkeling Lancaster County woman, on Saturday.

There is a possibility that the photograph might be a break in the much-talked about disappearance of Natalee Holloway, an Alabama high school student who disappeared during a graduation trip in 2005.

According to the initial search, nothing much was discovered. The authorities are now hoping that the FBI can get Patti Muldowney, and her husband, John, to help pinpoint the location. That a local resident had recognized the spot was another hope.

According to Ann Angela, a spokeswoman for the Aruban prosecutor’s office, it is a very small island with lots of people diving or snorkeling, so it’s not unusual for one of them to see an underwater picture and recognize the location. The area being searched was off the southern part of the Caribbean island.

The Muldowneys, of Manheim, Pa., reveal that they didn’t notice anything suspicious during their October vacation or didn’t check the photographs until December. It was only last month that the couple contacted the police and then the FBI.

According to John Muldowney, when he looked at that photo, he was confident that it was a human skeleton. Even his friends agree that it was human remains.

However, not everyone is that confident. Angela states that it could be a skull or a stone or anything else. According to forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht, it isn’t a human body but a rock formation.

According to Patti Muldowney, a boat took them away from shore, where she got into the water with two friends and used a disposable camera “to snap some colorful fish.” Her husband remained on the boat, she said.

Holloway was last seen leaving a bar with Joran van der Sloot, a Dutch national, on the last night of the graduation trip. She was 18 back then.